Honduras: OAS begins corruption crackdown

A teenager patrols an area of La Confianza, a city developed from land seized by small-scale farmers from one of Honduras' richest men. Photo: AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd

An international mission aiming to combat widespread corruption has been installed in Honduras.

Leader and spokesman Juan Jimenez, a former Peruvian justice minister, says the Organization of American States’ mission is an unprecedented initiative that will produce structural reforms in the country’s justice system.

In January, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández signed the agreement allowing the creation of the Support Mission Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras. The mission is made up of 30 foreign investigators, judges and prosecutors as well as Honduran counterparts.

The initiative followed months of street protests after a big scandal in the Central American nation’s social security system. Protesters had wanted a United Nations investigatory body like the one set up in Guatemala, but Hernandez agreed to the OAS body. It has a four-year mandate.